Actor Michael Clarke Duncan died suddenly on Monday at age 54, after never fully recovering from the myocardial infarction he suffered on July 13. A rep told TMZ that fiancee Omarosa Manigault had briefly left his hospital room, where he’d been staying since he fell ill in July, and when she returned he had died. As news quickly spread of his passing, it became clear that the Oscar nominee will be missed not just by his fans, friends and family, but very deeply by his fellow actors.

“RIP Michael Clarke Duncan. Thank you for being so kind to me & for sharing your talent with the world. You will be truly missed,” Jordin Sparkstweeted of the Green Mile star.
“R.I.P. my friend MCD. I will miss you,” tweetedDavid Boreanaz, one of many actors with whom Duncan shared scenes in his many guest appearances on shows such as Bones and as a voice actor in animated movies and TV shows such as Kung Fu Panda and Family Guy.

When he moved to Hollywood in 1990, the 6’5″ Chicago native was at first type-cast as bouncers. But his big break finally came in 1998 when he landed a part in Armageddon and befriended Bruce Willis, according to CNN. Willis recommended Duncan for the role of John Coffey, the wrongly convicted death row inmate in The Green Mile. From there, it was just a matter of time until his warm smile and distinctive voice made him a star.

Most recently Duncan starred in Fox’s canceled series The Finder. He had also completed work on the boxing film The Challenger and In the Hive, in which he played a teacher in a school for troubled boys. While we wait to see his last roles, take a look back at the Green Mile trailer to remember him as his career took off.